


where to next

by youngerdrgrey



Category: Queen Sugar (TV)
Genre: F/F, prompted
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-03
Updated: 2017-10-03
Packaged: 2019-01-09 20:43:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12284064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/youngerdrgrey/pseuds/youngerdrgrey
Summary: Davis gets his fifth ring, and Lena texts Charley for the first time in months. Miracles happen, I guess.prompt:charlena + "It wasn't supposed to be like this."





	where to next

**Author's Note:**

> \+ idk what time basketball games end bc I don’t pay enough attention + I apologize for the amount of Davis mentions in this

Davis gets his fifth ring. His ring, since it’s no longer an accomplishment that Charley gets to share with him. His, because he decided that being the team pimp was more important than the marriage that built him. His –

She hasn’t hiccuped since ring number two. Drunk off the most expensive champagne they could find and high off the rush of this actually happening again. They’d tucked Micah away with a sitter, and he’d spun her in his arms at a rooftop bar until the only thing that didn’t blur were his eyes. The only thing that made sense was him. Them. This.

She hiccups now. Her hand jumps to cover her mouth before another slips out, before she can draw any more attention to how drunk she is in public. Nova keeps staring at her, like she’s going to break, but she’s done breaking over Davis. She’s done letting the men in her life shatter her every time they decide that they want to be absolutely everything for someone else.

Only thing is, the camera keeps cutting to Davis and Micah, cheering and bouncing on the court. Micah’s only a head shorter than Davis now. His cheeks more narrow, and his temperament slowly turning into his father’s.

“I’ll be back.” Charley pushes off the couch. Hollywood opens his mouth to say something, but she shakes her head. “I’m fine. Really.” She grabs her phone as she heads out of the living room and straight on out of Vi’s house.

She has an interview scheduled for next week that’s supposed to talk about what it’s like being named one of the most influential women of the year. She’s got two hundred dollars on them asking her about Davis’ win now. Maybe they’ll phrase it nicely. Maybe they’ll wax poetically about the dreams she had for herself and her family before she started the mill. ‘They’re still coming true without you,’ the reporter will say, ‘Micah must be thrilled.’ And she’ll have to be gracious and supportive. She’ll have to smile and say that she’s happy that Davis accomplished what he’d set out to do, and that she hopes that he can continue to be a good father to Micah now that he has a bit more freedom in what he wants to do with his life. And they’ll stare at her face like her foundation’s set to crack. They’ll stare so hard she can’t stare back without un-focusing her contacts, and she really, really doesn’t want to do the interview anymore.

Her phone jumps in her hand. Micah probably. She flips it over.

> _From Lena Evans // 11:13 pm_

She blinks. It must be the alcohol. Lena doesn’t text her, not anymore. But Charley opens the message anyway.

> _From Lena Evans // 11:13 pm  
> _ **Lena:**  He really did it  
>  **Lena:**  And they said he needed Felix to do it

Felix left after a year in New Orleans. Lena left him not long after.

> _From Charley Bordelon // 11:14 pm  
> _ **Charley:** Felix holds people back

> _From Lena Evans // 11:14 pm  
> _ **Lena:**  So does Davis  
>  **Lena:**  His singer’s barely trending online

Charley snorts. His singer girlfriend who he dates for a few months before breaking it off so he can be with somebody else. This young girl who smiles at him like she’s going to do something Charley couldn’t. Even Micah feels bad for her. He comes home talking like, ‘It’s sad, Mom, and she keeps coming back to him. He’s not going to change.’ Davis just gets better at it.

> _From Charley Bordelon // 11:15 pm  
> _ **Charley:**  I don’t know if I want to talk about him

She really has spent enough of her life on him.

> _From Lena Evans // 11:15 pm  
> _ **Lena:**  We don’t have to  
>  **Lena:** But I would like to talk again

Charley settles on Violet’s porch swing.

> _From Charley Bordelon // 11:16 pm  
> _ **Charley:** You would?

It comes off needy in text form. She wants to say it with a smirk like she used to. Maybe with her on one side of a tall table and Lena on the other. Charley could say it half to her champagne glass, but her eyes could be on Lena as she does it. When other people look down on her, Charley only shines brighter. 

> **Charley:** You could say you missed me.

There. That’s forward enough that she can achieve the same result. Trip Lena up on the other end. She still follows Lena on social media – Twitter, Instagram – and Lena’s doing better on the gram than anything else. She’s got the smile for it. Dazzling white teeth that stun Charley into submission. Eyes she can drown in.

> _From Lena Evans // 11:17 pm  
> _ **Lena:** What would I miss, Charley? We weren’t exactly close. Last time you saw me, you were threatening me.

Charley threatens everyone.

> _From Charley Bordelon // 11:18 pm  
> _ **Charley:**  If you didn’t like it, then why msg me

She should’ve spelled it out, but her phone screen doesn’t exactly stay in focus for long right now. Maybe they should talk on the phone instead. They haven’t talked in years. Nothing more than a well meaning like or retweet. A direct message in reply to Lena’s Instagram post to announce the divorce. Does she sound the same as she used to?

> _From Lena Evans // 11:19 pm  
> _ **Lena:**  I don’t know

> _From Charley Bordelon // 11:19 pm  
> _ **Charley:**  you dk?

> _From Lena Evans // 11:21 pm  
> _ **Lena:**  I still look for you on the sidelines sometimes, and I wake up on game days and get ready like the whole world’s gonna be watching me. I normally don’t even remember that I’ve got nowhere to be until I’ve got eyelashes in my hand.  
>  **Lena:**  It’s dumb

Charley still watches post-game interviews, still had her March Madness bracket to go against Hollywood’s. It’s not dumb to miss it. It’s not ridiculous to resort to autopilot and expect things to still be good.

> _From Charley Bordelon // 11:22 pm  
> _ **Charley:**  It’s human

> _From Lena Evans // 11:22 pm  
> _ **Lena:**  Well, we mere mortals feel like that every once in a while.

Charley scoffs.

> _From Charley Bordelon // 11:23 pm  
> _ **Charley:**  I feel too  
>  **Charley:**  You’ve seen it

Lena doesn’t respond though. There’s no typing bubbles, and Charley’s shown emotion to Lena before. Yes, she’s normally playing Lena when they interact, but that’s what Charley had to do back then. Lena tried using her just as much. 

Lena propositioned Charley for that reality show, and she barely batted an eye at the concept that her husband could’ve actually been involved in what happened with Milena.

Charley calls her. The phone only rings twice before Lena answers, which gives Charley enough time to breathe before snapping. “Don’t even think of acting like I’m above emotion, okay? I feel. I hurt just as much as you do.”

“I never said you didn’t.”

“So the mere mortals comment wasn’t a crack at me?” Charley waits for a response that doesn’t come. “You want a punching bag, go somewhere else.”

“Wait!” Lena’s voice comes out harried. She gulps a little too close to her phone’s mic. “I…. Don’t you remember when we talked about this day? We said we’d rush the court, and all four of us would celebrate after. We’d go on a yacht for the day. We’d party like the boys never have to go back. We’d—“

“Be free.” Charley sinks so deep into the swing that it rocks. They were supposed to be a little unit then. “What did we say? Skinny dipping off the yacht?”

Lena laughs. “Go live on Periscope but tastefully film the whole thing.”

Charley laughs too. “I don’t know how we’d manage that.”

“We could figure it out.” A breath follows her words. Then, Lena clears her throat. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this. That’s all. And I do miss you, Charley.”

It might be the alcohol talking, or maybe her own loneliness. “Come visit?”

Another breath. “I’m actually… I’m staying at the W again. In the city.”

She’s in town. She’s close enough that they could be together in hours. But what would that look like? Would it be old friends catching up? More bottles and swapping stories about the husbands they left, or would it be more like, well, figuring out how to film on their own? Charley’s never — she was with Davis, then with Remy, and now, this would be something completely different. If Lena even wants it to be that way. She could be over her little crush by now.

Lena talks over the silence. “It wouldn’t have to be anything, if you’re not comfortable. I know that you’re not really —“

“I don’t know what I am.” Okay, that comes out sadder than Charley wants it to. More introspective and reflective. She’s never had the opportunity to really explore anything with a woman before. She’s not even one hundred percent sure she wants to explore with Lena. Sure, Lena is beautiful, and adoring, the sort of girl who would do anything Charley wanted without putting up much of a fight. 

“I could help you figure it out. Maybe find some new dreams.”

It’s not the alcohol that makes her stomach flip. “Give me an hour.” Enough time to say goodnight to the family, order a ride since she can’t drive herself. “Wait for me?”

Lena sighs on her end. “Of course. Yes. Yeah, I’ll be here.“

.

.


End file.
